I recently visited a lfs in my area and asked the lady where they get their lr from. I noticed the lr was purple - very purple. It looked like purple coraline growing on the lr but it's not. She explained to me that they use a product called 'purple up' to give the lr the purple coraline effect. It looks nice but is it natural and is it safe?
Should the coraline not rather grow on it's own?

Has anyone on the forum used ot before and what effect does it have on the aquarium life and water params?

So this is what love feels like!

AdSGuest

its basically additive ... calcium, alkalinity, magnesium and many many trace elements that coraline algae likes.. if you already have a bit of coraline growing in your tank it will help it spread real quick by keeping the parameters at levels optimal for coraline growth.. however you can archive that by simply doing water changes although it will take longer.. the real secret of this product are the trace elements. it will work best in tanks less than 300l and also if there are no too many corals in the tank already who will compete for the additives with the coraline

I have better use for VODKA...
I follow the RED SEA Reef Care Program​

Whoever said anything was possible
obviously never tried slamming a
revolving door
​

I keep the parameters in my tank mostly at optimum level for growth but never used to get a lot of coraline growth.. I used to find that strange but it never bothered me since I'm not a big fan of coraline algae.. in the past four weeksI started regularly dosing Aquavitro Fuel and I'm noticing the coraline spreading over my rocks real fast.. my bet is on the Fuel as its essentially trace elements.. I figured because I don't do water changes the trace elements would be depleted and although the calcium alk and magnesium levels were good the coraline was lacking trace elements

I have better use for VODKA...
I follow the RED SEA Reef Care Program​

Whoever said anything was possible
obviously never tried slamming a
revolving door
​

I just found this on another forum....
"coraline algae - you always want it till you have it .then you
spend the rest of your life scraping it off"
just thought it was funny.. I'm not saying that you shouldn't grow it if you like it

I have better use for VODKA...
I follow the RED SEA Reef Care Program​

Whoever said anything was possible
obviously never tried slamming a
revolving door
​

its basically additive ... calcium, alkalinity, magnesium and many many trace elements that coraline algae likes.. if you already have a bit of coraline growing in your tank it will help it spread real quick by keeping the parameters at levels optimal for coraline growth.. however you can archive that by simply doing water changes although it will take longer.. the real secret of this product are the trace elements. it will work best in tanks less than 300l and also if there are no too many corals in the tank already who will compete for the additives with the coraline

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Mother's milk!!! Where do we come up
With this.
Or should it be MASA milk.

Throughout history it has been the inaction of those who could have acted, the indifference of those who should have known better, the silence of the voice of justice when it mattered most,that has made it possible for evil to triumph.HIM

I have seen the product and used it. Then I realized the answer is not in a bottle. Pls pls pls don't always believe that you have to buy a bottle of something to have a successful tank. Keep the basics in your tank and all can be achieved. Btw ask yourself what does that nice pink algae require...... Then create the environment. When you do it will grow on the glass, rock skimmer and and and

If your Ca, Alk and Mg are all in the correct range coralline will grow. All you need is a "seed" rock and it will grow like wild fire. I've found that purple up disturbs the Ca/alk balance in an aquarium.

my only concern with purple up us that in theory it will elevate your existing cal alk and mag readings not taking into consideration what they are at the current time possibly pushing them too high.. i think the purple up system is based on the assumption that these parameters are in check in the correct proportions before adding it to the system to maintain or slightly elevate those values to increase their availability to encourage corraline growth.

I currently do weekly tests for alk, cal and magnesium. I use red sea coral growth ABC to dose and keep params in check. I also do regular water changes.
If I keep doing this and making sure all the params are in check the coraline algae will then grow, am I correct? There is some coraline growth at the moment. Both red and purple so if I continue with the normal routine everything will happen in due time. Like everything marine nothing happens over night.

Throughout history it has been the inaction of those who could have acted, the indifference of those who should have known better, the silence of the voice of justice when it mattered most,that has made it possible for evil to triumph.HIM

so perhaps you could explain better instead of making lame comments which are unnecessary. I was trying to help a fellow reefer by sharing my experience and understanding of her question.. since you are the 'guru' you can explain to the rest of us lesser folk where we go wrong and correct us. I still stand by what I said.

I have better use for VODKA...
I follow the RED SEA Reef Care Program​

Whoever said anything was possible
obviously never tried slamming a
revolving door
​

so perhaps you could explain better instead of making lame comments which are unnecessary. I was trying to help a fellow reefer by sharing my experience and understanding of her question.. since you are the 'guru' you can explain to the rest of us lesser folk where we go wrong and correct us. I still stand by what I said.

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hopefully I don't step on your toes by commenting bud .... but when I am not 110% sure of my facts I don't smack my name down a cul de sac with a chunk of plank as there are sure to be guys on the open forum that know more than most of us , and unfortunately for you @irie ivan actually is one of them

so far as coralline goes Theresa , its a sign of a healthy tank when coralline algae grows . @HOT SAUCE was correct to say that coralline algae absorbs the same nutrients as other corals so the trick is to monitor the consumption of elements like cal ,mag , alk , ect. maybe @irie ivan can give us more insights into this

guys lets stick to the topic, personally i dident find anything wrong with Hotsauce's statement ivan can you ilaborate? before we start derailing the topic and attacking each other lets put the effort into the debate..

so far as coralline goes Theresa , its a sign of a healthy tank when coralline algae grows . @HOT SAUCE was correct to say that coralline algae absorbs the same nutrients as other corals so the trick is to monitor the consumption of elements like cal ,mag , alk , ect. maybe @irie ivan can give us more insights into this

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lol its only a pest for those who have too much of it, but i think the main emphasis is that it covers LR and inhibits its ability to properly perform its aerobic and anerobic filtration function..